Task 3: The Importance of Communication Skills for Engineers (Week 1)

"I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is important). It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch."
Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)

Engineers often use complicated engineering knowledge to solve problems around us. We focus more on learning engineering-related concepts, and often do have time to spend on improving our communication skills. In the engineering industry, it is a difficult challenge to explain things and concepts using simple terms. Hence, if we are given enough time and resources to build up our communication skills, we will be able to give better presentations and elevator pitches.

Written by: Eryn


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Assignment 1 - Formal Letter

Subject: A Self-Introduction Letter Dear Prof Blackstone, My name is Eryn Ngai En Ning and I am writing this introductory letter that I hope allows you to get to know me better. I am a recent Integrated Facility Management (IFM) graduate from Temasek Polytechnic. Prior to entering Temasek Polytechnic, I have always been interested in business and had the intention to pursue a diploma in Accountancy. As I did not do well for my O'levels, I had to look for other alternatives. I came across IFM and decided to give a try as the modules seemed interesting. Modules such as Facilities Operation and Maintenance and Fire Safety Management made me realise that I am someone who is more interested in operations and maintenance. My interest has allowed me to embark on this journey to pursue a degree in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering. One communication strength that I possess is being a good listener. I am always willing to lend my listening ear to my friends and family. For example, dur...
Read more

Annotated Summary

The Sydney Morning Herald. (2017). What is cladding and why is it used on buildings?. https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-is-cladding-and-why-it-is-used-on-buildings-20170615-gwrir6.html In this article, Herald (2017) focus on what is cladding and its usage. The article states that cladding is an extra layer on the exterior of a building. Cladding can be attached to the building’s structure or act as an intermediate layer of spacers. The main purpose of cladding is to stop wind and rain from entering the building. Cladding also provides sound and thermal insulation as well as fire resistance. Cladding is made up of many different materials, however, each material is different in terms of their resistance to fire. Brick cladding is excellent in fire resistance while weatherboards cladding made from steel are high in fire resistance. Aluminum cladding is good in fire resistance while plywood sheet cladding is poor in fire resistance. The panel consists of two aluminum faces and a cor...
Read more

Summary & Reader Response (Final)

In the article “IoT based Smart Parking Systems for Smart Cities”, hIOTron (2020) claims that smart parking technology will improve the overall efficiency on roads and the experience of users. Smart parking utilizes sensors installed on lots to detect lot availability, which can be used in offices and shopping malls. Occupants can book in advance the desired lot while receiving real-time accessibility. Once the sensors confirm a vacant lot, the car will be parked automatically. An IoT solution must make it easy to transfer field data to the cloud at low cost and increased return of investment (ROI). Challenges faced include real upfront costs, as in-ground sensors can incur the additional cost of two parking systems. The sensors may read data from the other parking systems and add them to the user’s lot. Smart parking authentication is done using an  RFID  tag and data collected is reserved in the cloud. The app would find a vacant lot and send the location to the user after r...
Read more